Cash for stars in NHS ads kept secret

Government refuses to disclose the fees paid to TV and pop celebrities for healthcare publicity

Strictly Come Dancing winner Alesha Dixon recreates a scene from the film American Beauty using condoms at The Roost in east London on Monday February 11, to remind people that condoms are essential wear this Valentines Day. Photograph: Anthony Upton/PA WIRE

They are the celebrities whose advice about healthy lifestyles is deemed more credible than that of a doctor or government minister. Want to get people to stop smoking? Get Gary Lucy, handsome PC Will Fletcher in The Bill, to record video diaries outlining his struggle to quit. Looking for someone to convince more men to use contraception? Strictly Come Dancing winner Alesha Dixon, posing au naturelle, should attract their attention.

But the Department of Health, which increasingly uses actors, singers, television stars and sports personalities to convince the nation to adopt healthier habits, refuses to admit how much it spends on celebrity campaigns. Now critics have accused the government of "unacceptable secrecy" following speculation that stars are being paid up to £10,000 a day for their appearances.

The DoH has rejected a bid by the Observer under the Freedom of Information Act to find out how much money Dixon received for backing the Condom Essential Wear campaign, or the fee paid to model turned television presenter Melinda Messenger for helping to promote the 5-A-Day healthy eating scheme, or the amount paid to singer Jenny Frost for supporting its Breast Buddy breastfeeding initiative.

Officials confirmed that Frost, of the band Atomic Kitten, worked on the campaign for eight days and was "paid for public relations work, including interviews and personal appearances, as well as the use of her image on the pack sent out to young mums who sign up for Breast Buddy". But the DoH refused to reveal how much the singer received, citing "commercial interests" as the reason. Disclosure of the amount would deter other celebrities from fronting such campaigns in the future, it said. One official working inside the department said Frost had received £10,000 a day for her work, but the Observer has been unable to verify that figure.

Dixon generated publicity for a contraceptive campaign when she posed in a bath full of condoms. William Scott, an FoI official at the DoH who confirmed that Dixon worked on the promotion for one day, said: "The total cost of the photographic shoot for the campaign was £30,000. This covered [the] photographer's fee, Ms Dixon's fee, other agency fees, production costs, venue hire, hair, make-up, props and sundries." But he would not specify how much the singer had received.

Scott said that release of information about such payments would make it more difficult to persuade celebrities to work with the department in the future. "The department appreciates that high-profile individuals are very successful at communicating public health messages," he added.

Last night MPs and the leader of the country's family doctors insisted that the public had a right to know the size of such payments. "It's good to work with people who are of a high profile. But given that it's a national health service, we do have a right to know how much celebrities are paid," said Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of GPs. "It's just a shame that celebrities don't give up their time for free to help improve the health of the nation. That would be a brilliant, public-spirited thing to do."

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrats' spokesman on health, said: "In many ways the use of celebrities makes a lot of sense, but there's no justification at all for secrecy over these fees. It's unacceptable and ludicrous that the DoH refuses to release the amounts paid. It's public money and we have a right to know."

Independent MP and ex-hospital consultant Dr Richard Taylor, a member of the Commons health select committee, said: "I think it's one of those kneejerk government reactions that 'using a celebrity must be a good thing, let's do it'. But does that work? I don't think there's any evidence that it does."

Jaine Brent, Messenger's manager, said: "Melinda was proud to be asked to spearhead a campaign earlier last year to promote five a day and we significantly reduced her normal fee as this was a government-backed campaign. The amount she was paid is obviously confidential, but I can assure you it was a fraction of her normal fee." Dixon's manager, Malcolm Blair, would not discuss her fee, saying: "I don't think it's anyone's business." Dixon does unpaid work for and donates money to good causes, notably the Afro Caribbean Leukaemia Trust charity, of which she is a patron, he added.

Kate O'Shea, who represents Frost, said: "Jenny Frost's fees are confidential. The figure of £10,000 a day is absolutely ridiculous."